Crafts for Valentine

When I moved to Seattle about seven years ago, I did not realize Valentine was so big here. My oldest daughter came home from school one day and said she was going to make Valentine cards for everyone in her class. I thought it was a bit unusual. According to my experience from Sweden, Valentine cards were given to loved ones, that is family members, best friends, and a boyfriend or girlfriend.

I was glad she made those Valentine cards because everyone in her class had made her one and they all had given her a piece of candy. Although I think it is a pretty sweet tradition, I am opting out of the candy part. Instead we have included pencils, heart-shaped erasers, or some other small functional thing.

The other day the little one and I had a Valentine craft session. Well, the little one did all by herself. I just needed to help out with the spelling a bit.

What am I doing these days?

I am finally getting into a routine and concentrating on working on my online retail store. And it is hard work, but a lot of fun.

Things that I have been busy with lately are paying sales tax to Washington State for all products sold and preparing my taxes. It is not as boring as it sounds, just a bit tricky the first time. And I really love doing all the different things you have to do when having your own business, everything from web design and taxes to customer interaction and market research. 

I have also finally found someone to help out with marketing, and I think it is going to be a fun team effort. Thanks Kristin for being such a good friend and for providing your expertise.

The best part with having your own business is being your own boss. I can make all the decisions and I can only be angry with myself for making the wrong ones. I also enjoy interacting with customers and selecting the products for my store. Life is good.

I am currently focusing on getting the word out about my business, so if you would like to help me, you can do so by liking my company Facebook page, and you can also go to my store and Facebook like one or several products or pin them on Pinterest. And if you have purchased a product in my store, please write a review if you liked it. I really appreciate your help.

Apart from running my business, I am enjoying reading time with little I. She is making great progress reading in Swedish and English. And I am very thankful for the library at Swedish School here in Seattle.

Z has just finished her finals and is planning for her trip to Vancouver this weekend where she will take part in Model UN where they practice international debates and discussions. Z is representing Sweden and will discuss copyright and women's education. I wish I could go! At least we can enjoy good and interesting conversations at the dinner table, apart from when little I totally takes charge and wants all the attention.

Amazon's annual party 2013

Last Saturday it was time to join all Amazonians for the annual Amazon party. For those of you who do not know, Amazon has its HQ here in Seattle and has over 51,000 employees around the world. It is a fast growing company and so it is not strange that the party took place at CenturyLink Field to house all people.

This year's theme was global shipping (my definition) and we were welcomed by boxes hanging from the ceiling.

Containers with wall dancers.

Japanese themed bar.

And a good old British bus.

And we got to enjoy Imagine Dragons coming from Las Vegas to play us some tunes.

It was all a nice evening, although I must say that it was better last year when it was easier to find friends and colleagues.

Martin Luther King Jr Day

Thank you Martin for giving the kids an extra holiday. What would we have done without you.

I got to spend some good time with I at our local bowling joint where we practiced not to throw the bowling ball and not to forget to take out our fingers from the holes before the ball rolled away.

After out bowling session with our glow-in-the dark bowling shoes, we were ready to go home.

At home, I had a Semla and little I did some Valentine crafts.

And Zoe, well she is studying—as usual—with friends.

Too early!

When I lived in Sweden I used to decorate my home with daffodils during Easter. To me daffodils make me think about Easter eggs and spring.

To my surprise I saw these mini daffodils in my local grocery store today.

Pretty little things, but please wait with blooming a couple of months.

How difficult can it be?

I think it is really simple. No guns for the public should be the general rule.

Only the police, military, and certain security roles should be allowed to carry and use weapons.

If you are a hunter, then yes you should be able to use a hunting rifle during hunts, and when not hunting, you should store it according to strict rules.

Having a gun for self defense. You have got to be kidding me. The state should guarantee safety for its citizens. If it can't, then I think we have a different kind of problem that should be addressed accordingly.

Very simple!

Tools for making raw food

Many people have asked me about good tools for making raw food.

As a base you only need a chopping board, a couple of sharp knives, and some bowls. A high speed mixer makes life easier so that you can make smoothies, sauces, soups, and porridge. For those of you who want to make crackers, bread, desserts, pancakes, pizzas, and pies a dehydrator is invaluable.

Some people also invest in a juicer and food processor. It is really up to you and which preferences you have. I have managed without a juicer and food processor so far, but they are definitely on my radar.

What you will realize is that it is wonderful to prepare food in a totally different way. Less things to wash, less time to prepare your food, and no bacon odor in your hair.

Chop, chop.

Raw corn tortilla with salad

The corn tortilla I made in the dehydrator the other day turned out to be perfect with some hummus spread, different kinds of lettuce and a few slices of avocado. Some sea salt and pepper on top and lunch is ready.

If you want to start making raw food, I would suggest the following books:

• Ani's Raw Food Esstentials: Recipes and Techniques for Mastering the Art of Live Food by Ani Phyo
• Raw for Everyone by Alissa Cohen

The following book on raw food is good if you want more information about nutrients in food:

• The Raw Food Revolution Diet by Vesanto Melina

And if you want a book in Swedish, I can recommend the following book:

• Raw Food på svenska by Erica Palmcrantz

I have not chosen these books because they are the best raw food books, but because they have many easy recipes to get you going.

Happy socks

A few weeks ago, I was meeting a friend to explore a new furniture store in Seattle. My friend was a bit late so I popped into Sole food which is my favorite shoe store here in the US. To my surprise I found the Swedish sock brand Happy Socks there. Being a Swede and living in another country, I am always a bit proud to find that our little country with only 9 million people can still compete internationally with everything from IT and traditional industries to music and fashion.

I bought a couple of happy socks for little I for Christmas and she likes them very much. Happy Socks are available for children and adults.

A raw morning

With rain dripping outside my kitchen window and the grayness of the day hanging heavy over me, I thought I badly needed some high energy food to cheer me up. Time to whip up some raw food mixes.

In a jiffy I had made zucchini bread, corn bread, and Brazilian nut and banana pancakes and put into the dehydrator. No photos I am afraid. These mixes tend to look rather drab (can food look drab? well I have just decided it can.) so let's see if I can take a photo once all the food is ready instead.

Raw food is so easy to make. All the above only took a few minutes to prepare and all I needed was a mixer, a spoon, a knife, and a cup. I don't understand why not more people are trying this way to make food. Healthy and delicious and easy to make.

Maybe I should have you over for an introduction to raw. Anyone interested? 

Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a relaxing holiday. We celebrated an early Christmas without snow here in Seattle, and then we took off to the Mexican sun for a week. More about this trip in a later post.

2013. New year, new things to do and discover, isn't that wonderful?! There are no new year resolutions in our family as far as I know, but this year I would like to explore raw food a bit more, have time to read many more books than last year, and find some beautiful places to visit in the Northwest.

Hoping you all will have a tremendously good year!

Picture from April and May.